India not to be swayed by US nod for cryptocurrencies: RBI Governor
Sandeep Dikshit
New Delhi, January 11
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said India will not emulate others on the issue of cryptocurrencies, a day after US regulators allowed bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Expressing apprehensions about falling for the “Tulip mania” in the Netherlands that had led to an asset bubble in the past, Das said, “What is good for another market need not be good for us. Therefore our views — both that of the Reserve Bank and personally that of mine — remain the same. The question is why do you want to go down that road? What is it that you are going to get?”
World can’t afford crypto mania
We are all familiar with the Tulip mania in the Netherlands that had led to an asset bubble in the past. I don’t think emerging markets and the world can afford a crypto mania that could lead to similar outcomes. —Shaktikanta Das, RBI governor
“The US capital markets regulator in the same announcement also issued necessary cautionary advice and warning to investors to be careful along with the risks it poses. Our position, my position and the RBI’s position on this remain unchanged irrespective of who does what. Just because someone has done something, we are not here to emulate them,” pointed out the RBI chief in response to a query after his address at a financial sector seminar organised in Mumbai.
“I don’t wish to comment on what a regulator of another country has done; they know what is best for their country. But I would like to say that they themselves have flagged risks in the product and advised people to be very careful,” he added.
Many analysts have said the US approval is a landmark event in the adoption of cryptocurrencies in mainstream finance as the ETF structure gives institutions and financial advisers a familiar and regulated way to have an exposure to bitcoins.
On whether he sees the forthcoming vote-on-account to be inflationary, Das said going by the past records of the present government, he feels the interim Budget will not lead to inflationary pressures.
